Knicks rout Bulls 135-105, get back to .500 and sweep the early season series

The New York Knicks are back at .500. They beat the Chicago Bulls 135-105 at home on Wednesday night, their fourth win in five games, and that takes them to 4-4 after an 0-3 start.

Going in, SB Nation's Posting and Toasting billed the game as a rematch and, in Russell Richardson's words, "a winnable game, and a chance to hit .500 again." The thread was also carried by Yahoo Sports. New York took that chance comfortably. The 135 points are the most the Knicks have scored this season, and the 30-point margin is their biggest so far. Their previous high was the 133 they put up in Chicago on Oct. 28.

That game at the United Center was closer. The Knicks won it 133-127. Over the two meetings, New York has outscored Chicago 268-232, and the season series already belongs to them.

The bigger story is how the record has turned around. The Knicks opened with three straight losses, to Philadelphia, Boston and Orlando, by 6, 4 and 9 points. All three were close games, but they still counted as losses. Since then New York has gone 4-1, and the only loss came by five points at Philadelphia. Through eight games the Knicks have scored 880 points and allowed 841. That works out to roughly 110.0 per game for and 105.1 against, a margin of nearly five points a night.

Most of that improvement has come on offense. Over the last five games the Knicks are averaging 115 points and holding opponents to about 103. In the three opening losses they never got past 103. Wednesday's blowout also lifted their scoring average almost four points in one night, from 106.4 before tipoff to 110.0 after it.

What it means for Saturday at Cleveland

Next the Knicks play the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Saturday, Nov. 7, on NBA TV and DAZN CLE. It's a harder test than the last two. Three of New York's four wins have come at Madison Square Garden, where the team is 3-2. On the road the Knicks are 1-2, and their only road win came against the same Chicago team they just beat by 30. The losses in Boston and Philadelphia were both decided by five points or fewer, so they've been close on the road even when they haven't won.

New York also gets two days off between games, so the rotation should be rested heading into Cleveland. The numbers to watch are the defensive ones. The Knicks held Brooklyn to 90 and Chicago to 105 in their last two home games, but they gave up 127 in their win at Chicago and 107 in the loss at Boston. A win would give New York its first winning record of the season at 5-4. A loss would put the Knicks back under .500 and leave the hot stretch looking like a run against softer opponents.

For now, the poor start is no longer the main story. The Knicks have beaten Chicago twice, Brooklyn once and Detroit once. Saturday is their first chance in a while to beat a team that should be harder to put away.